Bestiary: Giant Bees

The giant bee is a prime example of the influence that Suspendium can have on nature. Most bees are small, fairly harmless animals, but this particular species has learned how to incorporate Suspendium in its shell. As a result, these creatures can grow to massive size.

A bestiary entry about giant bees.

Giant Bees

The giant bee is a prime example of the influence that Suspendium can have on nature. Most bees are small, fairly harmless animals, but this particular species has learned how to incorporate Suspendium in its shell. As a result, these creatures can grow to massive size.

Unlike most of the beasts in this com­pend­ium, giant bees are not immediately aggressive. While their giant floating hives are terrifying, there are no verified reports of the bees preying on human beings or livestock. Like their smaller cousins, however, they will defend themselves if they perceive a threat to their hive. Travellers are advised to keep their distance.

But of course, there is are those who seek them out, looking for profit.

Floathoney

Floathoney is a rare and dangerous delicacy. The hives of the giant bees that produce it float high in the sky and are as formidable as any man-made fortress. Rarely, a hive will be abandoned, or attacked by an even more terrible monster. It will drift and come to rest against the slopes of a mountain, or slowly lose altitude until it settles in a remote valley. Then, foolhardy apiarist-adventurers can enter the hive, scraping any honey they can find into jars, fending off any surviving bees, giant mites, and other scavengers.

The effects of floathoney have surely been exaggerated: claims abound of its efficacy as an aphrodisiac, a panacea, a gateway to eternal life. What can be verified is that it induces a state of great intoxication in its users.

Several of my acquaintances insist that the honey also tends to act as an emetic. Anyone who has had to catch the result­ing floating emissions will find the lustre of this substance much diminished in their mind.